The Legendary Marble Challenge

A few years ago I was wondering what to do with some marbles I had in my classroom cupboard. The marble challenge was created, and it has become a lesson that students hear about, and look forward to. The challenge is to build a ramp, or ramps, which will make the marble take the longest time possible to roll down them. Students are only given a sheet of tag-board, masking tape, and marble, and access to a timer. Groups work together over two class periods to build their ramp construction. Students test their ramps and make changes, sometimes redesigning the entire structure. Finally, it is time for the "official" timing. Each groups gets three chances, and their longest time is recorded. Although there is a competitive aspect to this lesson, the main point is for students to learn to work as an effective team, to understand to adaptive nature of design and science, and to test their predictions. Can they do all these and still have a great time? Absolutely!